BMC victorious in Vuelta’s opening team time trial

The BMC team won the opening stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday, a team time trial in Nimes, France.

The 6-second victory over Quick-Step Floors put Rohan Dennis in the leader’s jersey. Team Sunweb finished third in the 13.7-kilometer stage. Team Sky stopped its clock 9 seconds slower than BMC in fourth, while Orica-Scott took fifth.

The 13.7 km track, which went mostly through winding, narrow city center streets and through a Roman amphitheatre, was almost half the length of the team time trial in last year’s Vuelta, where Sky pipped Movistar to victory by under a second.

UAE Team Emirates, LottoNL-Jumbo and Movistar all experienced crashes, although all riders were able to continue.

“It was a hard course,” said Rohan Dennis. “Technical at the start and you really had to figure out whether it was better to finish with nine or to drop a few. We tested everything. We tested strength, technique and speed.”

“It feels great. Obviously it’s a different feeling because I feel it’s an achievement but at the same time the whole team won and I’m the only one that gets to wear it. That’s the only downfall I think to me wearing the Red Jersey compared to the Yellow. I take all the credit while it was actually a team effort.”